2/1/2013
College students communicate with their parents 27.7 times a week, including 8.1 times via text, 5.5 times on the phone, 4.7 times in person, and 4.4 times via social networks, according to re:fuel’s College Explorer survey.
Daily Doings. On a daily basis, the average student spends two hours in class, 1.5 hours studying, and two hours working at a paid job. He or she has 8.5 hours of free time. The remaining time is spent sleeping, eating, grooming, and commuting. Students spend an average of 10.5 hours on a weekday on campus, and are on campus for 7.1 hours during the weekend.
Money matters. College students wield a combined $405 billion in spending power. Food accounts for the largest proportion of students’ discretionary spending, at $44 billion. This includes $20.7 billion spent in grocery stores, $13.7 billion spent dining out, and $9.6 billion spent at convenience stores. Spending on items such as tuition, room and board, and books, dropped to $285 billion in 2012, down from $299 billion in 2011. Three in 10 students (30%) receive scholarships or financial aid, and 74% expect to graduate with loan debt. That said, 64% of students consider college to be a worthwhile overall investment.
Free swag. Almost one in two college students (47%) have received a free product sample, and 65% of them went on to purchase that product. One in three (34%) have attended a brand-sponsored event on campus, with 64% purchasing the brand afterward. More than four in 10 (45%) subscribed to an online discount service such as Groupon in 2012, up from 41% of students who were subscribers in 2011.
Gadget Owners. College students are more likely to own smartphones than feature phones (55% vs. 43%), and 32% expect to buy smartphones (either as replacements or for the first time) in the coming year. Students own an average of 6.4 electronic devices and spend 14.4 hours a day using these devices. Students perform an average of seven different tasks on their laptops, including accessing the Internet, playing games, and listening to music; 5.2 activities on their smartphones; and 5.1 activities on their tablets.
Facebook. Students spend an average of one hour a day using Facebook, 10 minutes of which is spent interacting with brands. Four in 10 (41%) have purchased a brand they “like” on Facebook, but 39% have unliked a brand, and 34% have hidden a brand from their newsfeed. The top reasons for blocking a brand are posting too often and posts that aren’t relevant to them.
Source: re:fuel, Tammy Nelson, VP Marketing and Research, 151 W. 26th St., 12th Fl., New York, NY 10001; 212-329-8317; tnelson@refuelnow.com; www.refuelnow.com.
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